An ideal Wilkinson power divider is a three-port network that is lossless when the input and output ports are matched to the incoming and outgoing signal lines. In a Wilkinson power divider, the power at the input port can be split into two or more output signals which are in phase and have the same amplitude. High isolation between the output ports can be obtained for a two-way Wilkinson power divider using quarter-wavelength transformers having a characteristic impedance of sqrt(2)*Zo and a lumped isolation resistor of 2Zo with all the ports having a matched impedance, Zo. The transformer only has the correct electrical length of a quarter-wavelength at one specific frequency, which amounts to a narrow-band matching technique.
In ideal Wilkinson power dividers, the output signals are 3 dB below the input signal, and they are also in phase. In an ideal Wilkinson power divider the output ports are mutually isolated. Isolation is the ratio of a signal entering a first output that is measured at a second output, assuming all ports are impedance matched. In a Wilkinson power divider, isolations better than −20 dB can be achieved. However, as noted above, conventional Wilkinson power dividers make use of a narrow-band matching technique, based on its structure.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art to overcome the deficiencies and limitations described hereinabove.